It Still Has Some Selling Points

Engines no longer roar and neither does the crowd. But inquiring minds still wonder whether auto racing ever will return to Saugus Speedway.

The answer remains “no.”

“Even this summer we’ve been getting a pretty decent amount of calls from people who didn’t know the track had closed and wanted to know [about racing],” said Kevin Wachs, general manager of what now is home to the Saugus Swap Meet. “People call and say, ‘Are you still open?’ We get that more than any other call.”

After 56 years of continuous operation, stock car racing on Saugus’ one-third-mile, pancake-flat paved oval came to a screeching halt July 19, 1995, when an engineer’s report concluded the track’s ancient wooden grandstands no longer were structurally sound.

Track owners have no plans to revive weekly stock car racing, Wachs said. Aside from monthly go-kart races and automobile trade shows, automotive-related events appear to be a thing of the past at what once was billed as “L.A.’s Place to Race.”

Still, Saugus Speedway remains. And it’s still open--every Sunday for a swap meet.

In fact, Wachs said, there are plans to expand the facility to include a farmer’s market, an antiques and collectible show, even concerts with festival seating.

“The idea is to make this into more of a fairgrounds,” Wachs said. “The stands definitely are not going to be demolished. This place is not going to become a parking lot or a shopping center.”

Such has been the speculation of everyone from racers to racetrack personnel, even before the track closed. Few deny auto racing in Southern California is on the wane, considering the closures of Saugus, Ascot, Riverside and other racetracks in recent years.

Still, Saugus’ closure stunned city officials. And despite the continuation of the swap meet--which began in 1963 and regularly attracts 10,000 people--the future of the facility remains a mystery.

The Bonelli family, whose Rodeo Land Co. technically owns the speedway property, “has been very elusive,” Santa Clarita Mayor Jo Anne Darcy said. Benjamin Bonelli, president of Rodeo Land Co., did not return phone calls for this story and has in the past declined requests for interviews by The Times regarding the speedway.

“I haven’t heard from them in four months,” Darcy said.

Plans for the building of a new City Hall, jail and arts center in the vicinity of Saugus Speedway have been approved, and grading for roads is scheduled to begin next year, Darcy said. A 1,000-unit housing tract nearby also has been approved.

In 1993, the 40-acre parcel of land on which the speedway is located had an assessed value of $550,000, according to tax records. However, local developers have estimated its value at closer to $20 million.

Darcy speculated it is only a matter of time before the speedway’s grandstands and handful of administrative structures are bulldozed for profit.

“I sincerely believe they’re phasing it out,” Darcy said.

Wachs insists the facility will remain. And so will its grandstands.

“They do add a certain amount of charm to the place--even if they don’t serve a function,” Wachs said. “They have a great look.”